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About Travis Pastrana, the Sponsor of the
Pastrana 199 Monster Truck
Travis Alan Pastrana (born October 8, 1983, in Annapolis, Maryland) is a
motorsports competitor who has won championships and X Games gold medals in
several events, including supercross, motocross, freestyle motocross, and rally
racing. Pastrana also has a reputation as one of the most friendly, approachable
athletes in the pro ranks, due to his natural charisma and bright
personality.[1]
Freestyle MX
Pastrana is best known for his exploits in freestyle motocross. He invented many
of the young sport's tricks and became the sport's world champion at age 14.
He landed a double backflip in his film Nitro Circus 3. On August 4, 2006, at X
Games 12 in Los Angeles, he became the first rider to land a double backflip in
competition, winning his first Moto X Best Trick Gold Medal. It is
believed that only one judge did not rate the run 100/100, making the final
score a 98.60. Pastrana said after the competition that he has no plans to
attempt the trick again. Travis' X Games participation ended when he injured his
knee while walking to see his friends in the stands, so he couldn't perform a
glory run for his Moto X Freestyle Gold Medal.
Motocross/Supercross
Pastrana has earned two motorcycle racing championships: the 2000 AMA 125cc
National championship, and the 2001 125cc East Coast Supercross Championship.
His hard-charging, go-for-broke attitude makes him a podium threat in any race
he enters. Pastrana's stand-up style, ability to spot jump combinations and
great speed through the whoops make him easy to spot on the track.
Pastrana has always raced and competed on Suzuki motorcycles, and remains
fiercely loyal to the brand. His motorcycles and rally cars carry the number
199.
In a recent interview, Pastrana said he will stop racing supercross races.
Rallying
In 2003, Pastrana opened a rallying career in the Race of Champions, and began
driving for the Subaru-backed Vermont SportsCar rally team in 2004. Starting in
2006, Travis was signed by Subaru to lead their new Subaru Rally Team USA, being
paired once again with veteran co-driver Christian Edstrom. On August 5, 2006
Travis won the gold medal in the first Rally Car competition at the X Games,
edging out rally legend Colin McRae by 0.53 seconds after McRae rolled his car
through the last jump.
Pastrana and Edstrom clinched the 2006 Rally America National Series Overall and
Open Class Championship on October 20, 2006 during day one of the Lake Superior
Performance Rally. The team finished out the 2006 series with another
first-place victory at the Wild West Rally in Olympia, Washington on December 3,
2006.
On December 16, 2006, Travis competed at the 2006 Race of Champions at the Stade
de France in Paris. He represented the United States in the Nations Cup by
himself, after injuries forced teammate Jimmie Johnson and his replacement Scott
Speed to withdraw. Driving alone, Pastrana finished in second place to the team
of Heikki Kovalainen and Marcus Grönholm from Finland. |
